Mills River celebrates 10th anniversary

Thursday

Jun 20, 2013 at 4:30 AM

Mills River has undergone “major changes” since it incorporated 10 years ago next week, Town Manager Jaime Laughter said.

By Nancy TankerTimes-News Staff Writer

Mills River has undergone “major changes” since it incorporated 10 years ago next week, Town Manager Jaime Laughter said. “The town has built the town hall, the Mills River branch of the library and developed about half of the park to be used by citizens,” she said. Mills River Park curently includes a multi-use trail, dog park, picnic shelter, playground and tennis courts. Mills River became an incorporated town June 23, 2003. “Being a new town meant starting from scratch regarding facilities,” Laughter said. “The town has leveraged over a million dollars in grants and donations to build the park and also to fund a sewer line along Jeffress Road that has allowed Ingles to build their new store.”Laughter recalled that when she first came aboard as a town official in 2006, residential development was booming.“But after the housing market downturn, we are now seeing a shift with more commercial and industrial interests,” she said, citing Sierra Nevada's East Coast brewery and distribution site due to open in the fall, the planned Legacy at Mills River retirement community and The Lodge at Mills River, a 50-bed skilled nursing facility currently under construction. “Early on after incorporation, the town was also fortunate to be able to add Pepsi, the FedEx facility and Volvo Equipment to the list of major developments,” Laughter added. “We have also seen the birth and growth of the Mills River Farm Market and The Mills River Business Association,” which was formed 10 months ago and now has nearly 70 members. “The town participates in the Henderson County Partnership for Economic Development,” Laughter said. “That partnership is critical to strengthening our area's competitiveness in the economic development arena. The town is fortunate to have industrially zoned vacant land that is well-suited to economic development. On top of that, we have a low town tax rate and high quality of life. Those are our greatest selling points when marketing for new business.” HCPED President and CEO Andrew Tate agreed that an abundance of industrially zoned open land was key to attracting new businesses, but he attributed the town's ultimate success to “the foresight of local leadership ... to make economic development a priority.”“They had the foresight to protect and preserve the community's character,” Tate added. “They chose to closely manage and chart a course for opportunities that came along instead of letting others manage those decisions for them.Ultimately, incorporation “has allowed a voice within the Mills River community on how development takes place and what facilities the residents want for their specific community,” Laughter said. “The park and library were ranked highly on a citizen survey in 2004, and that helped drive those priorities.”Roger Snyder, a farmer who has served as mayor since the town's incorporation, says one of his goals has been to add a full-time post office to the town, something he's determined to make happen. It can be tricky trying to balance agricultural, residential and industrial uses, he said.“We know that luring good family- and community-orientated companies will be the success of the Mills River community, not only in providing jobs for the Mills River residents, but also helping the smaller businesses already here,” he said. The town has been able to attract new businesses like Sierra Nevada “by keeping our tax rate low, making our ordinances and regulations as simple as possible, showing them that we cared and were willing to work with them through the process,” Snyder said.Sierra Nevada spokesman Ryan Arnold said Mills River has a natural beauty that drew the company to the area.“The brewery site often gives us pause,” he said. “One glance at the mountains and there's no doubt this will be a special place to share. After the bottomless warmth Mills River has shown us, we're ready to give back with great beer and a venue that celebrates the natural beauty of the town." “Mills River has changed in many ways, but the thing that doesn't change is the people here hold dearly to their heritage,” Laughter said. “This will always be a community with deeply planted roots and a sense of community that feels more like a family than a government.”Reach Tanker at 828-694-7871 or nancy.tanker@blueridgenow.com.

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